


A Rejected Past

by phantomthief_fee



Series: Self Indulgent Freckle Stories [12]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Joey has...some issues, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23573815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Joey didn't talk about his family
Relationships: Joey Drew & Henry Stein
Series: Self Indulgent Freckle Stories [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603462
Kudos: 13





	A Rejected Past

“You know, your hair’s getting kind of long.”

“Mm?” Joey looked up from animation frames Henry had just set on his desk. Henry was sitting in a chair opposite him, playing idly with a pencil. 

“I just said your hair’s getting kind of long,” Henry repeated, gesturing to the curtain of hair falling down over Joey’s shoulders.

“I guess it is.” Joey pushed some hair behind his ear. “Do you think I should cut it?” He hadn’t gotten it cut in a while because of the opening of the studio. He hadn’t really had a lot of time for personal grooming.

“I think it looks nice long.” Henry smiled at him. “It suits you.” 

Joey felt his face beginning to heat up, looking quickly back at the animation frames. 

“Maybe I’ll grow it out then,” he mumbled. He hadn’t had it long since he’d run away from home. But if Henry thought it was nice…

“Maybe if it gets long enough I could braid it,” Henry suggested with a laugh. 

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Joey said, looking up with a smirk. “As long as you don’t mess it up.”

“I can braid hair.” Henry put a hand to his chest in faux offense. 

“Mm-hm.” Joey’s smirk only grew. Still, he got up from his desk and walked over to sit in the chair beside Henry with his back to him. 

“Give it a shot,” he said. Henry chuckled and did just that. 

Joey closed his eyes as Henry’s deft fingers began to card through his hair. He kind of wished he’d washed his hair beforehand. It was oily, lank, and not at all attractive. Then again, Henry had seen him after pulling many an all-nighter, sleep-deprived and many times not having washed for days. This wasn’t about to frighten him away.

“I’m surprised you know to braid hair,” Joey remarked as Henry worked. “I would have thought this would be the sort of nancy behavior discouraged by society as a whole.”

“You’re so cynical.” Henry rolled his eyes. 

“Am I wrong?” Joey asked. “I know it certainly got **me** beat up on the playground.” His lip curled up in a sneer at the memory. “Then again, they looked for any reason they could to abuse me. Esther beating them up just made them angrier.”

“Esther?” Henry paused. “Who’s that?”

Joey froze. He hadn’t told Henry about his family. Henry had asked more than once, but Joey had kept his mouth shut. They weren’t a part of his life anymore, he’d told himself. They hadn’t believed in him. They weren’t worth remembering.

“She’s no one.” Joey’s voice grew cold. “Don’t bring her up again.”

Henry sighed to himself. Well, he certainly wasn’t getting anything out of Joey now. It was a lost cause to try and talk to Joey when he clammed up like this. He finished braiding Joey’s hair and left. 

.

“My mother just sent a letter congratulating us on the studio opening.” 

Joey looked up from his paperwork to see Henry in the doorway, holding a letter and beaming. 

“That was nice of her.” Joey couldn’t help but smile himself. He liked Henry’s mother. She’d been so kind to him the few times he’d been invited to her home while he and Henry had been in college.

“She also wanted me to make sure you’re not forgetting to eat again.” Henry crossed the room to set a container of cookies on Joey’s desk. “She sent these for you, by the way.”

“Your mother spoils me,” Joey laughed. 

Naomi Stein had all but adopted Joey the first time Henry had brought him home. Whenever Henry visited or sent letters to her, she always asked after Joey’s health.

“He’s a lonely one,” she would always tell Henry. “I worry about him.”

Henry couldn’t really argue with her there. Joey hid it well, but Henry could tell his friend was incredibly lonely. Henry was just about the only friend he had.

“I wouldn’t call it spoiling, per se.” Henry sat down opposite him. “It’s just the way she is.”

“Fair enough,” Joey conceded. He opened the container, drawing out a cookie and taking a bite. He sighed in contentment, practically melting into his chair.

“Your mother’s cookies are amazing,” he said, mouth still half full. 

“She’ll be glad to hear that.” Henry smiled.

It didn’t take long for Joey to finish his first cookie and snatch up another. 

“My mother used to make cookies like this when I was little. They were always my favorite,” he said offhandedly. He likely hadn’t even realized he’d said it.

Henry wasn’t sure if he should say anything or not. Maybe if he kept quiet, Joey would reveal more. But Joey didn’t say anything else on the subject. Once he’d eaten another cookie, he began talking about some meetings with the rest of the staff that they had coming up. 

Internally, Henry sighed to himself. Well, he wasn’t going to push it. Pushing Joey never ended well.

.

“Why don’t you talk about your family?”

Joey stiffened, nearly snapping his pencil in half from the force of his grip. 

“What’s with the sudden interest?” He asked, keeping his gaze on the paperwork before him. He didn’t want to look at Henry standing in the doorway.

“I’m curious,” Henry replied. “And worried. Did something happen between you and them?”

“They’re not worth mentioning,” Joey snapped. “They didn’t believe in me, so I left. There’s nothing more to say.”

“I’m sure they’d be happy to hear about the studio’s success.” Henry took a step toward him. “You should tell them.”

“No!” Joey roared. He jumped up from his chair, slamming his hands onto the desk. Henry stumbled back. 

“They didn’t believe in me!” Joey yelled, pounding his fist on the table. “I don’t need them! I don’t need their approval!”

“Joey, calm down-”

“I don’t need them!” 

If Henry didn’t know any better, he’d think it sounded like Joey was trying to convince himself. He turned and left the office, closing the door behind him. Joey kept screaming for a few minutes more before eventually devolving into tears.

.

Henry didn’t ask about Joey’s family again.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something with my Joey and Henry interacting


End file.
